


Trials of An Asguardian Princess

by IvyRay101



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-10-17 09:19:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17557631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IvyRay101/pseuds/IvyRay101
Summary: Ivy Chambers is a mutant with some big connections. Captain America took she and her brother in, can she repay his kindness and become a true Avenger or will a dark, cold figure lead her away from her rigorous training to teach her what it means to be at the service of the prince?





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Safe Place 

It was nearly an hour before she was due at the flight strip and she gave herself just five more minutes to look out over the balcony's ornate railing over this beautiful place. For over two years she'd woken each morning surprised a new at the soft sun, the sweet smells of the market place waking up, the feel of life. So much life all around her. Wakanda and it's traditions, it's peace, nobility, would be missed very deeply in her heart.  
Once upon a time she hoped she would never have to leave. It was the only place she'd ever felt both safe and content. With a place of honor among King T'Challa's court, she had made dear friends and come to feel as "normal" as she ever had. Most of her life had been pretty far from normal.  
The Chambers were of course the first to discover how different their fraternal twins were from any babies they'd ever encountered before. Ivor came first dragging Ivy out behind him, older he may have been but the needier of the pair, both were black of hair and eye and inseparable from their first breaths.  
There was no attempt initially to sperate the babies, they shared a crib and held each other as they had in the womb. Ivor, bigger and braver, was the first to bring his infantile frustration to life in an actual telekenictic episode. His rage sent objects flying around the small room, causing his mother fear to enter. Soon what tiny ability infants have with logic affirmed their mother as the provider of all things and sent objects raining down on her and in her direction.  
Ivy felt his wrath, his confusion, felt his feelings as they were her own and she raged beside him, knowing no other way to appease him but to join the onslaught. Both parents tried to calm them but their fathers frustration soon added to the rage of the infants and he was seen less and less. For six months the tired parents were held at the whim of something they couldn't begin to understand.  
Research told them mostly nothing, they knew that what they were hiding was mostly seen as a joke in the medical world, the alternative topic to alien abduction on crazy people radio. Who would believe them and what would happen to the babies if someone did? Either way, it was more than apparent, they could not handle the situation. Both had considered bundling the twins and leaving them at a police station.  
It was as Ivor had just began to whimper for his morning changing when their mother came in, exhausted and stooped, arms out to protect her face. The small blue car from the bookshelf rising in the air behind her as she pulled out the diapers and wipes. Bam! It collided with the back of her head making her bite her tongue. She cried out in pain and frustration as she had so many times before, but this time, Ivy saw her pain. It appeared to her like an arc of white light just as she experienced her mother's pain in the back of her own small head.  
As the red car sailed off the shelf in the direction of their mother's face, Ivy cried out and the car slammed to the carpet as if slapped down. Cooing at her brother in some secret language, she calmed him to quiet and when her mother placed her hand on her back she sent the same wave of calm over her. Her mother lifted her up, tearfully.  
"So, I guess you're the boss" she cried. The coming months revealed Ivy's abilities not only to calm and comfort her brother and parents but the family dog as well. Her presence was one of such sweet contentment, her dark eyes seemed to seek out anything that needed love and supplied it. As Ivor grew more willful so too did Ivy's ability.  
Whether tired or frustrated Ivy was always at Ivor's side to soothe his strife, fit the puzzle piece, find the toy he'd lost. But as the twins grew and their parents came to accept their situation, their father grew more impatient with Ivor's unwillingness to control himself like Ivy. Now that the twins were able to communicate it seemed to their father, enough was enough with Ivor's tantrums. At the age of four, he attempted to sperate the twins for a few hours a day at different preschools. Age four was also the first time the family had to move.  
By the time the twins were fifteen the family had moved like thieves in the night four times. Shortly after their tenth birthday the existence of other people like the twins had been made public. Along with many stories of the same people being hunted, institutionalised, registered and experimented on. As much as he tried, Ivor was still prone to outburst. He'd left two burning schools and a neighborhood in his wake. The family could not risk exposure........  
Her five minutes were up. She had to force herself off the balcony. Wakanda and her King had taken her in, coached her in controlling her power and though Ivor had not come as far, she owed them anything they asked in return. Her brother was safe and he would remain under strict supervision. She had a job to do. She took the lift down to the waiting Hummer and got in.  
"Flight strip" she said.  
"Leaving us, Ivy?" N'Noku, her driver and friend asked.  
"Yes, I'm sorry to leave this beautiful place, but I'm off to New York at the Kings behest." Not wanting to worry her friend, she did not mention she was now on assignment with the Avengers.


	2. New York, New York

Chapter 2: New York , New York

She boarded the specialised jet, one of Shuri's new designs, setting her phone's alarm and planning to sleep. As she dosed, she thought of the last time she was in New York. Her father thought it a great place to blend in. For three years it was, Ivor behaved himself and she had been able to go to school, even had a friend or two, as hard as it was for her to let anyone in, it was a constant desire to be around others. She couldn't read their minds, but their feelings were like an open book and she relished feeling someone besides her brother.   
As much as she loved Ivor, he was suffocating. Though he had developed at a normal rate, his immaturity was the root of all his problems. For starters he was all reaction. His every movement based on emotion like instinct with an animal. When he thought he wasn't being watched, or felt in Ivy's case, he was another animal altogether.   
Though she had never seen him hurt anyone intentionally when calm, she had seen him do little sinister things she began to call them, harmless really at first but if emotion defined Ivor, escaltory was a close second. He'd popped every fire hydrant on the block, worked the neighborhood dogs into all out freenzies of howling, set off every car alarm within a 2 mile radius. Always escalating.   
Having taken in an injured stray cat, Ivy was acosted by small, and extremely cute, packs of alley cats when ever she came and went for school or out with friends. She'd throw them a left over if she had one, her father condemned it aloud, but fed them more often then she did. She usually walked in smiling after skirting the herd, some times sad as she sweet talked her father into rangling a particularly sick or hurt straggler. She'd ride a long and hold the poor, scared thing transferring comfort and calm.   
As she began to develop closer friendships and spend more time away from home, Ivor began to become aggressive in questioning her and pitiful in his attempts to guilt trip her into spending her days cooped up with him. It was as if he had no empathy. She'd spent most of her life behind closed and some times barricaded doors, soothing his endless rage.   
The more she refused him the less the cats began to appear. They crossed the block in her wake. When a young boy was struck and killed by oncoming traffic she knew something was amiss, seeing his picture across the Daily she remembered him, a fixture at the bus stop or pedestrian crossing near the corner store. She couldn't believe he'd be so careless, she didn't believe it, had a very strong feeling to the contrary in fact. She decided against attending the street side, make shift memorial for fear of contact.   
She knew what he was, she knew he would abuse his ability and use it to hurt people. Betrayal or no, she spent as much time away from home as possible. The tension between them was uncomfortable at best. Ivor knew what changed her feelings toward him but was too selfish and jealous to realize it, and though he did so quietly he began to demonize her too, the only one who could possibly understand him was too appalled to try.   
Ivy soon found the party crowd and learned that alcohol numbed Ivor out. She sought out substance to amplify that silent spin and droned out even his most innocent attempts at contact, spoken in their own language.   
She began casual relationships with people she barely knew and started to go absent from school. The next year was a constant rollar coaster of boyfriends and poor decisions. Ivy began to wake to the sounds of whatever her mind was doing in her intoxication, no memory of damages inflicted during black outs. She had tried to escape her twin, but she was only becoming him. Until she met Thomas.   
Unknown to her reasonably paranoid parents, Ivy had attended a few sessions at different mutant outreach programs. It was Thomas, a young man with a cellular mutation, who first introduced the idea of a controlled environment to her. He was older than her and although she'd had a few experiences with mediocre and drunken sex, much more experienced.   
He created a thirty day plan to stop Ivy's drinking and by following his instructions carefully she began to improve. He recommended just the type of motivational material that appealed to Ivy's personality type and before long her grades were back up as she headed toward graduation. With Thomas ' help she was becoming better everyday and hadn't woken in months to the sounds of her rebel mind.   
It was shortly after her graduation that Thomas suggested applying his methods of motivation to their rather silly and extremely uncomfortable sex life. Being shy and modest she took his lead and discovered a new world of interest in the idea of submission. It was an extreme juxtaposition to the controlled and orderly lifestyle she had carefully puzzled out of the chaos of self medication. It was her own secret world and she soon fell in love with Thomas.   
Ivor knew this before she did, she had apologized to her parents and adhered to their rules after returning home and he could see her mind, the set back of her sobriety. She woke late one night, afraid she was having an episode, to find him seated at the desk in her bedroom.   
"Do you honestly believe you're going to walk off into some sunset honey moon and leave me here?" He asked.  
"What are you talking about?" she stammered, startled completely awake. "You have decided you will not be anything more than a monster. I've tried to help you."  
"No you've tried to manage me, to imprison me. To trick me into thinking you care for me." he said.   
"I've always cared for you" Ivy pleaded.   
"The time to care for me is gone. It matters not to me that you care for me, only that you fear me. You call me a monster, you can't even begin to understand, but you will. And once you do, we're off to better than this Ivy. You will hate me....but not forever." he said.   
"What are you talking about Ivor?" she screamed now.   
"Many things, Ivy, many things. I'd advise a quick break up first of all, if your Thomas returns here, you'll have another uncomfortable street side memorial to avoid." he spewed at her, slamming the door behind him as he left.   
Weeks went by as she made excuses and refused Thomas's calls. She hoped he would give up but she knew they were too strongly connected now for that. When he finally came calling at the front door, Ivor sensed him even before she did.   
She shook her head to clear the memory from her mind. She hadn't relived it in months. Thomas was gone. Her heart wouldn't ever heal from what Ivor had done to him. Nor from the fact it was Ivor who had done it. But the rage and destruction that followed brought down a team who could handle him upon the twins. As Ivor laid waste it was all Ivy could do to keep herself safe when suddenly a barrage of armed swat in black came down on her brother. She hurled herself in all directions trying to protect both her brother and the agents attacking him at once.   
It took Cap and several agents plus Ivy wrapped around Ivor with her hands on either temple to end it. As they approached it took all that Ivy had not to lift the debris around her and make a last stand. It was Cap who approached first.  
"Why did you help us?" He asked.   
"He's not always this way. He can't control it." She pleaded. "He was afraid of losing me and then afraid of you." She lied. She saw the true monster in him and within that monster, herself.   
"Let us help you" Cap said.


	3. Headquarters

Chapter 3: Headquarters

Ivy landed safely in New York. She could see miles upon miles of shoreline from atop the Avengers compound. She controlled her breathing in an attempt to settle her nerves. She was no longer a rogue mutant. She and Ivor had been sent to Wakanda as a part of a test group. Ivy learned to separate herself from her ability. To shut off the constant barrage of feelings bouncing off every living thing around her. Even to control her whole mind in stressful situations.   
In stressful combat simulations she was able to compartmentalize her feelings and loyalties to ensure the mission was accomplished. Where she really excelled though was in profiling. Pictures too gave her feelings and she had predicted the movements of many enemies to her King and of Wakanda. It was this talent that prompted her King to offer her assistance with a series of unsolved terror attacks in train stations across the east coast.   
As she exited the jet, she was met with a huge welcoming hug from Nat. They had become close, Nat aiding the King on several missions over the two years Ivy spent training in Wakanda. Knowing Nat would be here was a definitely a comfort. She was led to her quarters to deposit her belongings. As a ward of the King she would stay in the compound. It was a nice set of two rooms, a living and sperate sleeping area and a large bathroom. She began to unpack when the feeling struck her.  
Thinking of Thomas made her heart clench painfully. But she had never known anyone else and she missed everything about the way they interacted. She was so lonely. Nat invited her to dinner but she declined, lying of exhaustion. She took a bath and tried to fight the memories, but ended up submerging herself in them. She swore she could smell him. And that sent her mind to their time together and she finished herself off with a tear. Some of the memories were worth the pain.   
With her mind a tad clearer she wondered what her first day would bring. There was so much danger in this city, being inside this compound in no way ensured her safety. In fact this same compound was home to the war criminal Loki of Asguard. She had reviewed his profile in her studies and knew he had been under the control of one of the stones. This didn't, however, ease her any about working with the being that opened up her home to alien take over. She hoped he had learned the people of earth would not go quietly into the night. With a mixture of nervousness and excitement she turned on her side and tried to sleep.   
Her alarm woke her with a start, she had to remind herself she was no longer home. She'd allowed over 2 hours to get herself ready for the day.   
"Control" she whispered. "Control."  
Her morning usually started at the gym but she didn't know where it was yet and needed the time. She went to her calm place. She told herself control was all it took. She showered and put on the suit she'd set out leaving the jacket on the hangar. She did her make up very carefully, blending as if her life depended on it and pulled her black hair into a slick ponytail. The way you look determines alot of first impressions and she meant to be perfect.  
She'd realized at a young age that the less skin she exposed to possible contact, the less she'd feel those around her. In her training she'd learned to imagine her clothes as a protective suit of armor. She buttoned her cranberry colored silk blouse all the way up it's subtle but decorative collar, the top button resting just beneath her chin. Her black pants dragged as she decided between a strappy heel and an ankle boot, going with the latter. She finished the look off with the suits jacket and looked in the mirror.   
"Control" she said again. She looked good, she loved dark shades with a pop of color. She looked like she knew what she was doing, and hoped it would convince her new team to give her a chance. She grabbed her laptop case and was almost out the door when she remembered her gloves. There would be many handshakes today.   
As she headed down the hall, Nat and Clint came around the corner to meet her. Clint had spent time in the service of her King as well and his new bow was one of Shuri's designs. Both hugged and welcomed her. From the corners of her eyes she saw members of one of the world's most elite fighting forces all around her. They entered the glass lift and she could see the whole compound beneath her. Sam Wilson joined their descent on the ninth floor, introducing himself. He began pointing out the floors as they passed.   
Eight is mostly arsenal, seven is lab space. Both five and six are set up for practice field simulations. Four is the psych level. She peered out of the glass at the fourth floor and was struck directly in her gut with a feeling so long forsaken it was almost forgien. It was nothing but a floor in a large building, what on earth gave her such a feeling? Her heart began to pound in her chest, sweat coating her gloved palms. She was just beginning to hyperventilate when his shadow appeared, breaking the long streak of sun cast by the sky lights in the ceiling floors above. She knew it was him, Loki.   
She felt her eyes lose focus and she began to shake.   
" Nothing to fear" Clint said. " We know alot more about the Chitari invasion now or he wouldn't be here. He's an ally.....and if he isn't we will know long before he can do any real harm."   
"His analytical skills with the human psyche are impressive" Sam said.   
"There won't be much interaction" Nat whispered as they exited the lift on bottom floor.   
"Welcome to New York" Cap said, greeting them outside the lift doors. "Thank you for coming in."  
"You're very welcome Cap, I will do my best to represent you and my King in ending these terror plots."   
"Right this way to the lions den" Clint said, as they walked into the main conference room.


	4. The Introductions

Chapter 4: The Introductions 

The conference began with introductions all around. Nick Fury, Tony, Bruce, Peter, Wanda, Scott and a room full of support and tech agents were all in attendance, in addition to Sam, Cap, Clint and Nat. She'd hoped Bucky had been called in but he was no where to be seen. The feeling that shadow had given her made her more nervous about being here without any of the people who helped her become what she had become. That structure and support made her feel in control and there was none of that structure to be had here.   
"For those of you who don't know, Ivy is in from Wakanda to profile The Stranger. " Fury announced. "She'll need access to everything we've got and work space up on four. Ivy tell us a bit about yourself and your abilities."  
"There's not much to tell sir" she replied. "I'm an anipath with telekintic abilities. I don't use my ability in the field, King T'Challa doesn't think I'm ready, and I agree. I'm proficient at using my ability to predict movement once I've made some sort of contact. It doesn't have to be physical contact per say, contact with an object a subject has handled can trigger a feeling."   
Glad to have you's and looking forward to working with you's finalized the introduction and they went to work. She took in as much as she could while her computer and access were set up. The impacted train stations certainly had an obvious structure to them, the Stranger was working up to something in an orderly fashion down the east coast. It seemed too obvious, a calculated connection to send his pursuers off after false foot prints. She had a feeling nothing obvious would pan out to much when it came to this particular profile.   
The Stranger, while not known to be a regular cohort of Ulysses Klaw, had become something of a phantom in the arms game and was rumored to have procured Vibranium at some point over the last year. The two couldn't be positively connected and until they could be the possibility of a leak within Wakanda itself still remained, making the immediate detainment of The Stranger a first priority of the King as well as the Avengers.   
"Let's get you set up" Nat smiled, handing her a tangle of identification cards she'd need to display on her person. She gathered her things and headed to the lift. The Stranger suddenly light years from her mind as the word FOUR thundered in her ears almost perfectly to the beat of her pounding heart.   
She slowed her breathing as she willed her foot to take the first step and get her moving. As she fully emerged from the lift, following Nat as closely as possible, her stomach nearly dropped as a vibration surged through her, followed by a deep voice....his voice.   
"I don't believe we've met" Loki said behind her. Her mind told her to pretend she didn't hear, to keep walking, but at the sound of his voice she stopped cold instead. She'd turned to face him before even registering the movement. She shifted her belongs to one arm and offered her hand. He shook it firmly and took the binders balanced on her arm.   
"I'm sure you probably know who I am...." he said.   
"You're an Avenger now" Nat chimed in.   
"It's nice to meet you Loki" was all Ivy could seem to muster. Even through her gloved hand she felt a shock at his touch. He looked at her but she couldn't bare it, and let her office distract her as soon as they entered. It was a large room, several desk tops, everything appeared to be in order.   
"I'm next door if you need anything, it's nice to meet you too, Ivy " he said, handing her back her binders and continuing on down the hall. It didn't occur to her until later than she hadn't given him her name.   
Nat helped her set up and she got to work, downloading any and all files on The Stranger. She organized them into priority files and began a search on an alias she had never heard associated with The Stranger. She could normally really submerge herself in just what she had at the moment. Plenty of film of horrified ppl and an evidence case containing fragments of metal and wire from several of the bombs. She doubted The Stranger had assembled them himself but she thought it would bring her a lead. She couldn't stop feeling the remnants of that shock though. Distraction made the obvious harder than it had to be.   
As afraid as she was of running into him again, she braved the hallway, making for the lady's room past the lift. This state was no good. She entered the stall and focused all of her mind on the shock of his hand. The booming, commanding vibration of this voice. She braced her back against the side of the stall and unzipped the pants of her expensive suit, inching her fingers toward the spot. She focused the feel of the shock into her hand. It was only a moment.   
She gathered herself and opened the stall, avoiding the mirror and then stopping herself, stood before it.   
"What the hell was that?" she asked herself. "This is not happening." She shook her head at herself. What kind of crush is a mass murderer, brought to heel or not? She was here to work and to finish that work so she could go home.   
With a clearer head, she skipped lunch and had a lead by the early afternoon. She contacted Director Fury with her information and was informed she'd have the suspects by morning for questioning.   
She thought she had cleared her Asguardian neighbor from her mind but as she put her desk in order she realized he was only gone from the forefront. As if mesmerized she moved toward the wall connecting their offices and removed her glove, placing her palm flat against the adjoining wall. He was in the next room, she could feel his cold, slow heart beat. She felt her skin flush. She held it as long as she could stand, tiny sharp pricks needling at her finger tips.  
She brought her hand down to her side and caught her breath, basking in the feeling and fearing it with a terror that might break her mind. She gathered her laptop and headed for the lift, locking the door behind her.


	5. Suspects

Chapter 5: Suspects 

She woke before the alarm after mustering the last of the shock of her contact with Loki twice more before bed and sleeping like the dead. Again she scolded herself and yet she didn't feel the little guilty shame she thought she should. What's the harm she figured. Soon enough this profile would be complete and The Stranger would be brought to justice, she would go home and Loki would likely be replaced by another representative of Asguard after a term of service.   
She threw on her gym clothes, tight but still long sleeved and high collared. Grabbing a water bottle she headed for the gym which Sam had given her a tour of after dinner last night. She was glad to see him, Peter and Cap already warming up. She hopped on a treadmill and loosened up.   
"Fury wants to see what you've got" Sam teased. "And all rookies have to face the obstacle course. That is of course if you think you can take on a hundred year old man!"   
"I see" Ivy giggled.   
"Ninety seven, I'll have you know " Cap laughed faking a hurt face. "You up for it?" he asked. "What are they teaching you in Wakanda?"  
"Oh a bit of everything" she smiled, following Sam to the obstacle course and lining up. At the starting gun she was off. Running over the top of the monkey bars kept her inches in front of Cap and she was able to widen the distance when they came to the spinning tubes meant to simulate a battle crawl. The tube was too tight for Captain Rogers and the seconds it took him to squeeze through plus a lucky flip onto the zip line platform ensured her victory.   
She was honestly pretty impressed with herself as she crossed the finish line and slammed the buzzer. Cap just feet behind her. She stooped to catch her breath and noticed not just Sam and Peter staring at her but the entire gym, which had filled up as she'd entered her work out mode and zoned everything out.   
"And why again are you not out in the field?" Sam laughed. "That was amazing."   
"I think I've got a cramp" Cap groaned, smiling.   
As they toweled off and parted ways, Ivy had bent to retrieve her water bottle when she felt the chill. Pretending to notice Nat entering on the opposite side of the gym she scanned the area. As she gazed up to four, she saw the back of him as he turned into his office.   
Was he watching her? What all did his repertoire of abilities entail? Had he felt her at the wall? Was he just walking into his office and some weird mutant girl was staring him down like a maniac? Probably the latter she suspected as she exited the gym to get ready for the day.   
She put herself together carefully and went down to the kitchen for coffee on her way to the bottom level. Peter poured her a cup and they continued down to the main conference room. The big room was abuzz and she quickly ascertained that true to his word, Fury had her suspects in custody. Bomb making materials were found in the basement of the abandoned squatter's house they were picked up at.   
Fury rushed through the breakdown, assigning small teams and giving orders.   
"This is the break we've been waiting for" he exclaimed. "We'll know more once Ivy and psych get through but be ready. If we can get close we'll move today."   
"Follow me" Fury said as he approached. "I'll take you to them." Ivy tailed him to the lift and down through several basements and subasements to lock down.   
"Exactly what do you need?" Fury asked as he led her to the two way mirror behind which the two suspects sat.   
"Just a touch Director " she answered as she turned to the door separating the two small rooms. He unlocked it and entered before her. She removed her glove behind him as he raised his pistol to the two suspects.   
"One move....." he said, staring each suspect in the eye. Ivy remained silent as she approached the first suspect from behind, placing her bare hand on the back of his neck. He relaxed and began to smile as she did the same to the second man. Both grinned stupidly and craned their necks to look at her. She placed her hand on the first man's head and his smile turned to a look of horror as he felt her enter his mind.   
"Sleep" she told him and he put his head down on the table in front of him. She repeated the process again and nodded to Fury once the second man was asleep. They exited the interrogation room.   
"I need a map. I can track the woman who supplied the bomb materials and her supplier, he's got a South African accent. Klaw did alot of business in that region." Now Fury followed as she raced back to the lift, slamming floor number four with the heel of her hand.   
Fury radioed his deployment team and grabbed every tech and intern in sight as they made their way to Ivy's office. A screen was pulled down from the ceiling and within moments an interactive map of New York City loaded before her. Touching major landmarks she used the pictures from her suspects minds to navigate a route to both suppliers.   
"This will take two teams Director" Ivy blerted out. "One will inform the other if they aren't taken simultaneously. Here is where the bomb makers last knew them to be" she said, making two large red circles on the map.   
"Let's move" Cap shouted as the room cleared.   
Ivy hadn't felt so excited in months. At this rate The Stranger would be caught within the week. She went down to central command to watch the take down. The room was tense as the Avengers followed her routes. As exciting as this part always was, she was tense as well. God knew what she was sending them into.   
The female connection was simple. Nat had her in custody in minutes. The mysterious South African was another story. His goons set off pipe bombs at the turn of every hall way. By the time the suspect was tracked to the roof the stair case was gone. In seconds he was boarded onto a military jet and camofloged, completely off the grid.   
"What kind of cloaking device is that?" Ivy bellowed. "I've never seen anything like it!" She quickly brought Shuri up on facetime and replayed the footage.   
"It's not mine" Shuri confirmed.   
"It's not ours either" Fury added.   
Who on earth was this she was dealing with here? She'd never seen a marvel of technology like the one she'd just witnessed and she'd been a full time resident of the most technologically advanced nation in the world just a few days ago.   
She chewed her lip as Sam walked through what remained of the complex they'd just raided, focusing on the suspect's escape route. The supplier had accessed the roof through a small hatch in the ceiling.   
"Damn" Ivy exclaimed. "If i had been in there to touch that hatch we'd be trailing him now!"   
While the techs and analysts collected evidence from both scenes, she sent all the footage they were able to get over to Shuri so she could work it from her end.   
"The deployment team is enroute, emergency conference downstairs in twenty" Fury said. Just as quickly as it started it was all over. She checked her breathing, she was disappointed and yet she had done well. She was completely concentrated throughout the entire ordeal and her brain had stayed with her. The lack of cemented structure hadn't seemed to effect her as of yet. Control, she thought, breathing slowly.   
As soon as she entered the conference room she noted Loki's presence. She took a seat near the front of the room where Fury was standing. She noted each of the members of the deployment team had returned safely and that Nat was headed in her direction. She was relieved.   
"Another one down, three in two days isn't too shabby " Nat said as she sat down. Ivy only frowned.   
"Excellent work everyone" Fury began. "We may have only brought in the one, but we're better off than we were this morning. Ivy, you did well here but I agree with you. We need you out there. Now that I've seen what you can do, we can't let the trail run cold."   
"She holds her own in the gym too" Cap added. "This is what you were meant to do."   
We'll be with you, just touch the hatch and point" Nat said.   
"We could've had the second supplier today" Ivy said with disgust. "Let's go back to the compound, he had to have touched the hatch."  
"Good" Fury started. "You'll need an eval and complete work up, I will notify T'Challa of our intentions. Loki, can you run the simulations and evaluate her tomorrow morning?" Fury asked turning to him.   
"Ofcourse" Loki replied. "I'll upload the software tonight, eight o'clock?" he asked looking directly at her.   
"Yes" she said lamely and turned from his gaze, it was heavy, too heavy to with stand for more than a moment. Her mind went blank.   
"Then we'll wait on clearance and resume the hunt tomorrow" Fury said.   
"Can i see the woman?" Ivy asked. Fury nodded and the meeting broke up. She saw the woman and flipped through the catalog of her mind. She spent the rest of the afternoon trying to derive anything of importance to add to The Stranger's profile from everything she'd taken from the suspect's minds so far. Her work had kept her mind occupied all day and she had forced herself to remove the thought of her evaluation tomorrow from her thoughts.   
Now the images she had conjured up of herself with Loki last night crept into her train of thought. She would most likely be alone with him tomorrow. Her breathing began to fluctuate at the notion. She blushed a deep red at the recollection of his touch and removed her gloves placing both hands on the adjoining wall. She didn't feel anything.   
Disappointed she gathered her things and left her office. She went to the kitchen for dinner and back to her rooms. She couldn't relax or unwind. Control she kept telling herself, but this was spinning out. The field? Had she really just agreed to that? Just what did she think she was doing? She had to know where that cloaking device originated, that much she was sure of, and was just as sure once the King saw it he would grant Fury's request.   
What if she had an incident alone with Loki? That would surely end her chances of going anywhere and the idea frightened her enough to consider backing out all together.....but she wanted a feel of that hatch. Determination set in.   
She'd faced down Ivor and lived to tell of it. Every minute lost raised the stakes and endangered innocent commuters, the entire east coast was a target and she couldn't sit idle over a strange and juvenile crush or whatever it was. Nor was she going to let herself out of this on such foolish and vain excuses.   
She settled down for bed and conjured up all new images, laying and thinking and putting out the fire but it was only a temporary fix. She slipped off to sleep, a dark cold figure drawing her in and leading her somewhere secret.


End file.
